Jisho

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7 Replies ・ Started by Nakagami9 at 2017-04-09 20:44:58 UTC ・ Last reply by odraencoded at 2017-04-15 14:26:20 UTC
This is a discussion about 解答

解答 is this readed in two ways?

I don't understand, for what reason is this read as かいとう and こたえ? I can't really understand it, can someone help me please? >.<

F0cc2074bb8864137adf29865e78f635
Nakagami9 at 2017-04-09 20:42:32 UTC

I don't know if it's really readed kotae too, but I saw in a song that the reading in that case was こたえ and kanji's was these used for かいとう

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Zengor at 2017-04-10 00:10:50 UTC

This is a common phenomenon where the author is trying to add some nuance to the writing, either by sort of melding the meaning of two words, or trying to add an implication to what's being said. In this case, he says こたえ in the song (probably because it fits better with the rest of the song) but changes the meaning by writing the lyrics with 解答. The exact intention behind this is better understood with the context of the song, but consider this: In this case, the meaning of the words is already very close to begin with, but 答え is response/answer in general, while 解答 gives off the impression of an answer to a question in a test or something like that.

This sort of thing is very common not only in song lyrics, but in general writing as well by the use of furigana. It may also be used to give more information to the reader, or even for humor. Consider the possibility that this is what the author is trying to achieve if the pronunciation given is different from what is given to the kanji that's actually written down.

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odraencoded at 2017-04-15 00:16:17 UTC

I've written about this phenomenon with furigana ( http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/11/furigana-meaning.html ), but I had no idea it happened with song lyrics too.

Is there a name for it? Like, is the technique called something in Japanese?

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Zengor at 2017-04-15 07:01:24 UTC

I believe it's seen as a form of 当て字. Though originally 当て字 referred to usage of characters only for the pronunciation, the inverse process of using characters for their meaning and ignoring pronunciation is now also called 当て字.

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Zengor at 2017-04-15 07:19:27 UTC

Actually taking some time to research this, the proper term for this is 義訓:
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/義訓

現代においてもポップソングの歌詞・漫画・ライトノベルなどをはじめとして多くのメディアで義訓は使用されている。例えば「本気」と書いて「マジ」と振り仮名をつけるなど。

But from what I can gather, it's pretty technical. Not sure how many people would refer to it like that in normal conversations.

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Zengor at 2017-04-15 08:02:11 UTC

This time looking more into what people normally call this practice in daily use, I've seen people calling it different things, like 当て読み as a sort of compromise term to maintain the original meaning of 当て字, or jokingly something like 中二ルビ because of how it's used in manga a lot of the time. There doesn't seem to be a single consensus term, which sort of makes sense. It's weird for new learners but not exactly something people talk about a lot, it's just a thing that is done.

Honestly, not sure how I would bring this up to someone in a conversation with a single word to make sure the meaning gets across, hahah. I feel like 当て字 would cut it in general, but if it doesn't it might be better to just go for a quick explanation like "you know, like when you write 宇宙 but the furigana says そら".

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odraencoded at 2017-04-15 14:26:20 UTC

Yes, I understand it'd be hard to bring it up in a conversation. I just wanted to know if there was a term for it. Thanks.

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